UFC President Dana White has lashed out at the media after Anderson Silva implied the brand was to cancel an event in Brazil due to the country’s economic issues.
The report initially surfaced via Guilherme Cruz on MMA Fighting. The man known as “The Spider” claimed on a conference call that “(the plan) was to have me fighting in Brazil against I don’t know who, but with this situation going on in Brazil, economically and everything, the UFC decided to abort this event for now.”
However, when White spotted UFC matchmaker Sean Shelby tweeting “the media is a joke, this isn’t true,” he backed up his colleague:
White also stated that Silva was merely offering his opinion on the card.
Afterwards, MMA Fighting’s reporter Ariel Helwani advised the headline on the article had been changed to better reflect the story, most noticeably that they were reporting on quotes from the Brazilian fighter:
White later replied the following to Helwani. Warning, expletive language used:
As noted by Adam Guillen Jr. of MMA Mania, Silva was reportedly going to headline UFC 197 at the HSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with a bout against longstanding rival and compatriot Vitor Belfort mooted.
However, last week it was confirmed Silva will instead fight in London at the O2 Arena against Michael Bisping in the main event of UFC Fight Night 83 on Feb. 27.
Chamatkar Sandhu of MMA Junkie thinks it’s a bout that is a major bonus for British fans, with one of their own up against one of the sport’s all-time great competitors:
A potential showdown between Belfort and Silva in Rio would have been brilliant for Brazilian MMA fanatics. The duo went head-to-head back in 2011 at UFC 126, with the Spider defending his middleweight championship with a knockout in the opening round.
Silva will be seeking his first win since 2012 when he takes on Bisping next year, while Belfort’s last outing saw him defeat Dan Henderson with an impressive opening-round knockout.
Brazil’s economy is in a perilous position at the moment. As reported by the BBC, the deficit amount for the country in November reached some of the highest levels on record, with the economy shrinking in all but one of the last six quarters.
After the country hosted the World Cup in 2014, Rio will stage the Olympic games next summer.
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